Fundraiser Sandwich Night Supper by Ruth Paget

Fundraiser Sandwich Night Supper in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget 

One of the traditional Main Street economic motors of the Midwest that I grew up with in the 1970s in Royal Oak, Michigan was food fundraisers by religious organizations, amateur sports teams, and community service clubs. 

Today the remnant of these fundraisers are bake sales and chocolate sales, but once sandwiches, potluck lunches, pancake suppers, and soup suppers used to be the backbone of local fundraising that gave parents a night off from cooking and helped support Main Street supermarkets at the same time. 

All the above is background for my family’s viewing of the Olympics Opening Ceremony in Milan-Cortina, Italy while we ate items from a food fundraiser. 

My daughter Florence Paget bought pastrami and rye bread from a local synagogue as part of their winter fundraising. Pastrami is a tender, salty, sweet, and smoked beef brisket usually that is cut into thin slices as sandwich meat. 

Pastrami was easy to purchase in Detroit (Michigan) where I grew up due to its large Jewish population at the time. I took pastrami sandwiches for granted then, but know now from watching youtube videos that it can easily take more than a week to produce pastrami. 

I appreciate the sandwich more now as an adult and like it that Florence’s support for the fundraiser helps with local youth programs and social hours for seniors like pancake suppers helped at my parents’ Baptist church when I was a child. 

The traditional bread that pastrami is served with is a rye bread. Rye has a bitter flavor due to rye seeds, which can seem oily. I can almost feel harsh, dry weather of a vast windy plain when I eat rye bread.

Rye bread is an acquired taste, but if you like it, you can benefit from its seed-grain combination for what vegetarians call a protein combination based on matching amino acids. The rye bread’s protein adds to what is present in the pastrami. 

Rye bread and pastrami taste especially good with mustard. I used French Maille mustard from Dijon (France) on the sandwich. Mustard contains antioxidants and selenium, making it a good winter condiment when access to fresh fruits and vegetables are often limited in places with cold weather and snow. 

A dill pickle is the traditional accompaniment to the pastrami sandwich on rye. I drank an Italian Peroni beer with the pastrami sandwich since it seems to be an official sponsor of the Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina. 

I enjoyed reliving a bit of my youth in Detroit (Michigan) with this meal. I also like the idea of a multicultural sandwich night as a way for local sports teams, service organizations, and religious organizations to do fundraisers that help working parents and support Main Street markets at the same time in Salinas, California and the surrounding Monterey County region.

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Novgorodand Bento War Games

Cashew Shrimp at Golden Star Chinese Restaurant in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget

Cashew Shrimp at Golden Star Chinese Restaurant in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget 

One of my favorite authentic Chinese-American meals is cashew chicken, which I recently ordered from Golden Star Chinese Restaurant in Salinas, California. 

The shrimp in this dish gets its salty taste and blackish color from being marinated in soy sauce before being stir-fried (about 10 minutes) 

The cashew chicken at Golden Star makes maximum use of the organic produce available in Salinas Valley with vegetable ingredients such as celery (one of Salinas Valley’s top selling crops), green peppers, mushrooms, carrots, and onions being put in the stir-fry. 

The aromatics used to flavor the vegetables and shrimp tie it all together. Fresh chopped ginger, minced garlic, and chopped green onion along with sweet mirin cooking wine flavor the sizzling cooking oil (usually peanut oil) that the shrimp and vegetables are stir-fried in. 

Roasted cashews are added in at the end of cooking along with oyster sauce and sesame oil. Golden Star makes sure everything is bite-size to be easily picked up with chopsticks, if using. 

I love vegetables, shrimp, and cashews independently. When they are all put together in this dish with ginger, garlic, green onions, and sesame oil as seasonings, I think the combination pretty terrific tasting and full of vitamins, minerals, and protein. 

Diners who like shrimp and vegetables might also like these ingredients with cashews to try something new at a reasonable price at Golden Star Restaurant in Salinas, California.

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Californian Salmon Dinner Photo Essay by Ruth Paget

Californian Salmon Dinner Photo Essay by Ruth Paget 

I use three go-to products from Costco to make dinners during winter in Salinas, California. These products are Morey’s Wild Alaskan Salmon, Bibigo Sticky Rice, and Earth Green Organic Spring Mix baby greens. 

Morey’s Alaskan salmon is kita salmon. Kita salmon are a numerous subspecies of salmon that swim in the Pacific and then fight to swim upstream in fresh water to spawn (reproduce and die).  Salmon tend to spawn during late summer through winter.  Salmon also swim in Northern Californian rivers by the Oregon-California border in the Klamath River and in the Sacramento River. 

Morey’s frozen salmon comes in individually wrapped packages. I place frozen fillets on a baking tray lined with parchment paper for easy clean up when baking is done. 

The fillets bake to a reddish brown and are seasoned with sea salt, garlic, reddish paprika, onion, and red bell pepper. 

When the fish are done baking, I warm up Bibigo Korean Rice in the microwave for 90 seconds and place organic greens next to the rice and salmon. (My plated meal looks like an upscale TV deal, but nutritionists did advise on what to put in TV dinners.) 

I am happy with my protein-carbohydrate-vegetable meal. I also like this meal, because rice grows in the Sacramento area of California and lettuce grows in the Salinas Valley. This meal could be totally sourced in California, if necessary. 

Clean up is easy is easy, if you gather up the parchment by four corners as in the video below. You still have to wipe down and wash the baking tray, but you do not have baked on grease on the tray, if you use parchment paper. 

Note:  You can substitute steamed or microwaved canned green beans for the salad, if you would like.

The photos and short video below show the step-by-step process of making a salmon dinner during winter:

Bon Appétit!

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Bento and Novgorod War Games

Celebrating French Chandeleur with Crêpes Photo and Video Essay by Ruth Paget

Celebrating French Chandeleur with Crêpes Photo and Video Essay by Ruth Paget 

When I lived in France, I learned that all French people seem to observe the Catholic holiday of Chandeleur whether or not they are practicing Catholics or not. 

Chandeleur occurs 40 days after Christmas on February 2nd and celebrates the presentation in the temple of Jesus Christ by his parents Mary and Joseph. The temple referred to is not pagan, but a Jewish synagogue. Jesus was born a Jew to Jewish parents. 

Chandeleur marks the beginning of Christ’s life in society and prepares believers for the celebration of Christian Easter in spring. 

The French celebrate Chandeleur with a pile of crêpes that can last several days if wrapped in plastic and kept in the refrigerator. I love the nutrition in crêpes at an economical price. 

The crêpe recipe my family developed for California uses milk, eggs, flour, water, fleur de sel sea salt from Guérande (Brittany, France), and California olive oil. The recipe follows: 

Paget Family California Crêpes Recipe

When your crêpe batter is made, it should be liquid with no lumps. Heat your crêpe pans with olive oil on high. Pour two ladles of crêpe batter into a hot pan and swirl the batter around till it coats the pan with the batter. 

The batter will begin to set so that you can move the crêpre back and forth gently like in the videos below. Carefully flip the crêpe over. You are working with extremely hot oil so you might want to use spatulas and mitts to turn over the crêpe. 

The flipped crêpe has a golden brown color and dry texture. Let the other side cook for 1 to 2 minutes before placing it on a serving plate. 

The French drink hard cider (alcoholic cider) with crêpes. If you prefer sweet cider try Martinelli’s. It pops open like champagne, but has no alcohol. We drink Henry Hot Spurs Cider from Trader Joe’s. 

According to webMD.com, hard cider retains vitamins like Vitamin C and antioxidants in its production. Apple cider is also considered to be a laxative by WebMD.com . 

The typical French additions to crêpes are butter and grated gruyère cheese. Spreadable Laughing Cow is also liked but not traditional in crêpes. 

Dessert crêpes are usually made with jam. Both kinds of crêpes are rolled up and can be heated in a mircrowave. 

The following photos and videos illustrate the process of preparing a French Chandeleur celebration at home with crêpes, cider, and fillings for this February 2nd holiday.

No-lump batter is necessary.

Fleur de sel is a fine grain sea salt that 
reduces lumps in the batter

American, Swedish, and Crocheted French Kitchen Towel by Laurent's grandmother

The flipped crêpe has a golden cooked sid.

Henry Hot Spurs Hard Cider is similar to apple cider
from Brittany, France

Typical crêpe fillings for a home celebration of Chandeleur.

So easy to eat, but time consuming to prepare.

A little butter and cheese for filling before rolling up the crêpe.

Time to eat!

Bonne Fête de la Chandeleur!!

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and Novgorod War Game Developer

Family Fondue Night for a Sustainable, Nutritious Winter Meal by Ruth Paget

Family Fondue Night for a Sustainable, Nutritious Winter Meal by Ruth Paget 

One of our family’s go-to winter meals in Salinas, California is Swiss fondue with cubes of day-old artisanal baguette bread to dunk. We purchase both of these protein-, calcium-, and energy-rich items at Nob Hill in Salinas. 

My husband Laurent cuts half a loaf of baguette per person into cubes for the fondue. He says chopping the baguette into cubes takes about 5 minutes per person to do. Each person gets a bowl of bread cubes to dunk by their plate. 

Once the bread is done, Laurent puts the fondue pot on the stove along with the contents of two Emmi Swiss Knight fondue packages and ½ to 1/3 bottle of Chardonnay wine. (We use Kirkland brand Chardonnay from Costco which tastes like a Kendall Jackson chardonnay. We drink the remainder of the bottle with our meal.) 

You have to constantly stir the fondue cheese sauce and wine till they become smooth. This takes about 20 to 30 minutes. We like Emmi’s Swiss Knight Fondue for several reasons. First, they make the fondue with Swiss cheese and kirsch (Swiss cherry brandy). The packaging is secure and very neat to open. You can also store the fondue at room temperature till you are ready to open it, making it perfect for pantry storage. I think the packaging also discourages insects and rodents, because it is very sturdy. 

I doubly like Emmi, because they have a subsidiary in Stoughton, Wisconsin outside Madison. This location has an all new facility devoted to sustainable product production. Emmi’s headquarters which are in Lucerne, Switzerland set up the Wisconsin location to create sustainable sourcing, production, and distribution. I like buying a brand that promotes a sustainable supply chain. 

These are thoughts that come to you as you stir the fondue. The same is true of ruminations about the fondue set. My family uses a Swiss Cousances fondue set that my in-laws gave Laurent and me for Christmas when we were first married. We have saved money eating fondue throughout winter. If you like cheese, you might consider buying one. 

When Laurent and I came back from living in Germany, we gave our daughter Florence Paget a Cuisinart fondue set, since California is also the number one producer of dairy goods in the US. I told her she would always have dinner, if she eats fondue here. 

Once the fondue becomes liquid and bubbles with steam rising, it is time to move the fondue pot to the table. Fondue sets come with a stand with a hole in the center. This hold is for steno quick flame containers with flammable gel. You have to take off a secure lid and light these with a stove lighter before the fondue comes out. There is a cover with holes that you open to distribute flames underneath the fondue pot. 

Place the fondue pot on top of the stand and dunk your bread in the cheese with forks provided with the set. California is rich in Chardonnay, so you can find it at all price levels. 

The Swiss in Switzerland drink a wine called Fendant du Valais with fondue, which is sometimes listed on Swiss restaurants in the US. 

A salad with creamy dressing and chopped tarragon are a nice finish to a fondue supper. 

 

Fondue Bubbling on a Fondue Stand
We used two packages of Swiss Knight Fondue
You can see bread cubes in a bowl in back

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Anthropology Now - Oral Histories, Museums, Documentaries reposted by Ruth Paget

I thought this posting about the centennial of the anthropology department at the University of Chicago had interesting information about the role that oral history, museums, and documentaries play in the field now:

https://news.uchicago.edu/story/new-course-explores-100-years-anthropology-uchicago?utm_medium=01.29email&utm_source=UChicagoNews

Posted by Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Museums Dealing with Extinctions book by UChicago Press posted by Ruth Paget

Ghosts Behind Glass by Dolly Jorgensen published by the University of Chicago Press deals with how museums preserve records of extinction in the natural world.

Eco-tourists might enjoy this work with more details below:

 https://mail.google.com/mail/mu/mp/465/#cv/priority/%5Esmartlabel_promo/19c09f4b7659470d

Posted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France